Sunday, April 15, 2007

•If we could maintain the vitality and healing capacity we had as a 10 year old we could live till we're 1,200 years old.•We reach our physical peak between 20 and 30 and begin a steady decline after that.•Stem cell therapy is growing in popularity in Eastern European countries to treat aging. Its success is largely unproven, it is possibly dangerous and is illegal.•At the turn of the last century the average life expectancy was 47 years.•With the advent of antibiotics and public health agencies controlling water and such the average life expectancy is close to 80 now.•In lab studies animals living on a calorie restricted diet tend to live longer lives then their fully fed counterpart.•Those on a 6 month calorierestricted diet experienced:loss of weightlowered cholesterolhigher HDLcholesterolless damage to DNA•Lower body temperature is linked to longer life. Calorie restricted diet resulted in lower body temperature.•High HDLcholesterol is a good marker for longevity.•The Blue Zone is where people live disproportionately longer lives. These zones are found in Sardinia (polyphenol in local wine), Okinawa (higher purpose, lots of fish and tofu), Loma Linda, California(clean living) and Costa Rica (lots of fruits and vegetables).•American's spend several billion dollars a year on dietary supplements.•The benefits of growth hormones for adults are low, the risks are high.

Ewwww. Sorry but this was the scale that the couple who were eating a near starvation diet used. Healthy diet, probably, but the bacteria on that scale could kill a horse!

The meal that they prepared with Sanjay actually looked quite good. Heirloom tomato salad, asparagus, talapia, and a brownie sundae with fruit. Total calories for the meal? 630

Sanjay visited with Dr. Andrew Weil, at his ranch outside of Tucson. Dr. Weil is famous for his research in vitaminsupplements. His recommendations for healthy additives? Alpha Lipoic Acid (fights heart disease and diabetes), Selenium (prevent cancer) and fish oil (omega 3 fatty acid).

So that's about it for part 1 of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's Chasing Life. Here are a few screencaps that I thought you might enjoy.